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Friday, December 3, 2010

The Soccer World Rejects Us...

I'm going to take a minute here to just say that I am bummed that the US didn't get the bid for the 2022 World Cup Soccer Tournament. I know that most sports fans here in the States don't care that much about International Soccer. I get it, I really do.

I'm a little bit different in my opinion even though I still consider Football, Baseball, Hockey and Basketball all more important in my mind then Soccer as sports here in America. But I have always enjoyed Soccer. I played it for many years in youth leagues in my home town of Worthington, Ohio and have watched it on TV ever since.

I thought having the World Cup here in 1994 was a big deal and very important in the growth of popularity of the sport in this country. We wouldn't have a professional sports league in MLS Soccer if it weren't for that World Cup. I don't think the interest in soccer is going way. It's hugely popular as a participatory sport, beginning in youth leagues all the way through College now and that isn't going to change. Shoot, playing soccer is also great exercise, hell you basically run 45 minutes at a time each half for a total of 90 minutes a game. It's cheap, you need a ball and some grass space to play on.

I know that the International Soccer Powers that Be consider it important to spread this event around but some how this still smells like anti-Americanism again. Last year it was the Chicago Olympic Bid in 2016 that was shot down and now this. In both cases it was acknowledged by many throughout the world that the US bids were by far the best economically, logistically and because we are a nation built of people from all nations of the world, it was logical from a diversity point of view as well. The stadiums in the US are already in existence, in Qatar they are not, not one. I would think the lesson learned in S Africa last year (A half dozen stadiums were built or renovated for the W.C., billions of dollars spent and now they are empty and not being used) would show how economically disastrous this can be if a country has to try and build this thing from scratch. Somehow those lessons are being ignored....

Oh well, I will still watch the event every 4 years wherever it's being held. I do think that the US Team will one day shock the World by winning the Cup. Then it will be interesting to see what happens then....